It was spring break, and we were on a road trip. My girlfriend, Samantha Rivers, got distracted chatting with her childhood friend, Kyle Larson, and missed the highway exit. To save time, Kyle suggested we put the car in reverse on the highway and backtrack to the missed ramp.
I shut that down immediately, pulled up a graphic highway crash video on my phone, and showed it to them to scare them straight.
Eventually, after enough pushback from me, Samantha caved and took the long way around, exiting the legal way.
But because of that detour, Kyle missed the influencer autograph session at the Great Plains Music Fest.
He lost it and stormed off in a rage, wandering alone into the Badlands, right into a pack of wild wolves.
They tore him apart.
Samantha fainted on the spot, holding what was left of him in her arms. When she came to, she buried his remains herself and then turned around and proposed to me.
I thought that was the start of something real.
Instead, on our wedding night, she drugged me, bound me, and traveled hundreds of miles during the night—taking me back to the same place where Kyle died.
And when the wolves showed up again, Samantha opened the door, shoved me out, and looked me dead in the eye.
“You’re the genius who gave that shitty advice and got Kyle killed. So go die with him in that wolf’s belly, Henry!”
And just like that, I was torn apart alive.
But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the highway.
Back on the very day Kyle first suggested reversing to reach the missed exit.
——
"Take the detour? Are you out of your damn mind? Do you even realize how many miles that adds? If we wait and try to get in later, the autograph session will be over. What's the point of going at all then?"
The moment my eyes opened, Kyle was already leaning over from the passenger seat, shouting at me. His face was twisted with frustration.
I blinked and glanced out the window at the traffic flying past us.
Then it all clicked. Realization hit me.
I'd been reborn.
I was transported back to the exact day Samantha missed the exit, and we pulled over into the emergency lane, trying to figure out what to do.
"If we drive in reverse from here, it's barely twenty miles," Kyle was saying, his eyes fixed on Samantha now. "If we go fast, we'll make it in fifteen minutes tops. Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
He added, "Samantha, trust me. Just go for it. If anything happens, I'll take the fall."
When I didn't jump in or argue like I did the first time, Kyle didn't even look at me. He turned right back to Samantha and kept pressing her to move onto the highway.
She had always listened to him without question or hesitation. But driving the wrong way on a highway was a serious matter.
She looked over her shoulder at the rest of us in the backseat, silently asking for confirmation.
There were five of us total in the car.
Initially, only Samantha and I were meant to go on a romantic road trip through the Badlands Desert.
But halfway through, Kyle called her out of nowhere and said he wanted to catch the Great Plains Music Fest. Samantha ignored every protest I made, drove over a hundred miles off-course to pick up Kyle and his two rowdy buddies, and totally hijacked the trip for the festival.
Initially, I was driving with Samantha as the passenger. Then she suggested taking a break and offered to drive, but she ended up letting Kyle sit up front so they could 'catch up,' leaving me in the backseat with Kyle's two irresponsible friends.
They were just as reckless as he was, and of course, they supported his brilliant idea without hesitation.
Reverse-driving on a crowded highway? No problem.
In my past life, I was the only one who pushed back. I pulled up a handful of brutal car crash videos, made them watch, and almost bullied them into thinking clearly.
I used reason, common sense, and sheer stubbornness to stop these idiots from getting themselves killed.
And for all that effort?
I got tied up, thrown to the wolves, and torn to shreds.
But this time?
This time, I wasn't going to stop them.
Let the fools court death on their own. Let them all die.
I just needed to get far away before the inevitable crash caught up with me.
I gave a faint smile and said coolly, "I was being short-sighted earlier. I didn't think about the timing. If you all think reversing on the highway is no big deal, go ahead. I'm not gonna stop you. But…my stomach's acting up. I need to step out for a minute."
I reached for the door handle, already preparing to get out.
"Don't you dare!"
Before I could open the door, Kyle spun around and slammed his hand down on my shoulder, pinning me to the seat.
